OPEC says you can forget about $100 oil for at least the next 10 years

The 12-member oil cartel OPEC has this grim forecast
in a
draft report
presented to its staff last week that the
Wall Street Journal read.

Here's the
Journal's Benoît
Faucon and Summer Said (emphasis added):

"The report, seen by The Wall Street Journal, predicts that
oil prices will be about $76 a barrel in 2025 in its most
optimistic scenario, a reflection of OPEC worries that
American competitors will be able to cope with low prices and
keep pumping out supplies. It also contemplates
situations where crude oil costs below $40 a barrel in
2025."

This appears to be OPEC's latest admission that it has lost
firm control over oil prices. Last Tuesday, influential Saudi
Arabian oil minister Ali Al-Naimi told CNBC that the price of oil
is not controlled by OPEC but is, "up
to Allah."

Oil prices started collapsing from their peak last June when the
market was flushed with oil produced in America's shale
boom. Despite falling oil
prices, OPEC agreed to maintain production at 30 million barrels
per day in November, a move that sent prices even lower.

Oil below $100 is not good for OPEC members; many of them are
depending on oil to balance their budgets and fund existing
projects.

West Texas Intermediate crude
oil was last above $100 per barrel in mid-July 2014 before
beginning its rapid slide to as low as $43 per
barrel. On Monday, WTI was lower at around $59.17 per
barrel.

Since mid-March, we've seen a steady recovery that took WTI above
$60 per barrel last week for the first time since December.